Brown vs Board of Education: Why Schools Are Re-Segregating
Location:
In a report by the Civil Rights Project it is noted that 74% of African American and 80% of Latino students attend primarily one-race schools. They further explain that a majority of these segregated schools are growing fastest in both the southern and western regions of the United States. One school in Texas is seeing vast segregation due to large minority populations. Of the 705 students enrolled, only seven of them were white which is less than 1% of the school population. One reason why this is happening in public schools the past few years is due to the fact that the Government has done nothing towards increasing school integration. "The Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that school districts cannot make racial balance a policy goal unless they are attempting to comply with a federal desegregation order.
Low-Income Communities (Classism):
Schools in low-income or poverty communities are forced to give students of minority separate and unequal educations due to lack of quality textbooks, resources, and in a lot of cases teachers. It is because of this that minority students living in low-income communities are less-likely to receive the same quality education as white or asian populations and are even less-likely to graduate and move on to a higher education. Taking this even further, white parents who do not feel comfortable sending their children to under-developed, minority populated schools will withdraw and even move there homes to insure their children can get a quality education. "In a world economy, success is linked to formal education." By not providing everyone with an equal opportunity to receive a higher education, we risk seeing our populations economic and social status decline.
What can be done:
"Recommendations include: giving priority in competing for funds to pro-integration policies; changing the operation of choice plans and charter policies so that they foster rather than undermine integration; supporting diverse communities facing resegregation with housing and education policies; helping communities undergoing racial change to create voluntary desegregation plans, and training for administrators and teachers’ to achieve successful and lasting integration." (CRP, UCLA)
Civil Rights and The American Education System Today
Many experts believe that “education inequality” is one of the biggest challenges to civil rights in America today. In this radio segment (time stamp 9:36 - 12:00; transcript) from the Diane Rehm Show, a panel discusses how poverty and place of residence have lead to segregation in schools (. Another factor that has brought about segregation in schools is the over-representation of minority groups, particularly blacks and Hispanics, in special education. The following articles look at two school districts, one in San Francisco and one in Connecticut, that both recognized a disproportionate amount of minority students in special education. Some educational professionals suggest the reasons more students who are black are identified as needing special education services for academics, behavior, or emotional stability may be based in bias and cultural differences. Identifying these biases and misunderstandings during the referral process would significantly increase the chances of success for these students who’s needs are not being met in school, but do not need special education services.
Bussing's Boston Massacre - 11/1/98
June 21, 1974—U.S. District Court Judge W. Arthur Garrity Jr. ordered massive forced busing to integrate the Boston Public Schools.
While Garrity was superintendent of schools, public-school enrollment dropped from 93,000-57,000
White students went from being 65% of the total enrollment to 28%
Presently, white students make up 17% of public school students; the majority of white students attend three private "exam schools" in Boston
"Sometimes when I look out this window," White reportedly said to an aide during one hellish day at the office, "I see Belfast out there." Police had to escort and unload buses at several Boston high schools every morning and afternoon while snipers stood guard on the surrounding rooftops. Metal detectors were installed and troopers patrolled the cafeterias, hallways, and stairwells, and still racial brawls broke out daily. Garrity also ordered equal numbers of black and white police officers to guard the schools, provoking racial hostility even within the police force. "It’ll be lucky if the Boston police don’t kill each other before the day is out," said one state trooper at the time. For three years, as many as 300 state police officers a day patrolled South Boston High. One teacher compared the school to a prison: "We can’t leave school, we can’t come early or on the weekends to do preparatory work. We are like prisoners. Everyday when I get up, it’s like getting up to go to prison."
Busing has not only failed to integrate Boston schools, it has also failed to improve education opportunities for the city’s black children. When Boston introduced Stanford 9 testing to the public schools in 1996, 94 percent of seventh-graders at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School scored "poor" or "failing" in math, as did 73 percent of fifth-graders at Brighton’s Alexander Hamilton School. At Dorchester’s William E. Endicott School, 95 percent of the fifth-graders scored "poor" or "failing" in reading and 100 percent scored "poor" or "failing" in math. Yet all of these students were promoted to the next grade.
"Boston Schools Adopt New Placement Plan for Students" - 3/14/13
“Tonight’s historic vote marks a new day for every child in the city of Boston,” the mayor said in a statement.
But numerous parents and activists complained during a hearing before the committee’s deliberations that the new system would leave some children — mostly black and Hispanic — in the lowest-performing schools.
“No way we can stand around the playground and say, ‘Yeah, we’re all getting a fair shake,’ “ one father testified.
Brown vs Board of Education: Why Schools Are Re-Segregating
Location:In a report by the Civil Rights Project it is noted that 74% of African American and 80% of Latino students attend primarily one-race schools. They further explain that a majority of these segregated schools are growing fastest in both the southern and western regions of the United States. One school in Texas is seeing vast segregation due to large minority populations. Of the 705 students enrolled, only seven of them were white which is less than 1% of the school population. One reason why this is happening in public schools the past few years is due to the fact that the Government has done nothing towards increasing school integration. "The Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that school districts cannot make racial balance a policy goal unless they are attempting to comply with a federal desegregation order.
Low-Income Communities (Classism):
Schools in low-income or poverty communities are forced to give students of minority separate and unequal educations due to lack of quality textbooks, resources, and in a lot of cases teachers. It is because of this that minority students living in low-income communities are less-likely to receive the same quality education as white or asian populations and are even less-likely to graduate and move on to a higher education. Taking this even further, white parents who do not feel comfortable sending their children to under-developed, minority populated schools will withdraw and even move there homes to insure their children can get a quality education. "In a world economy, success is linked to formal education." By not providing everyone with an equal opportunity to receive a higher education, we risk seeing our populations economic and social status decline.
What can be done:
"Recommendations include: giving priority in competing for funds to pro-integration policies; changing the operation of choice plans and charter policies so that they foster rather than undermine integration; supporting diverse communities facing resegregation with housing and education policies; helping communities undergoing racial change to create voluntary desegregation plans, and training for administrators and teachers’ to achieve successful and lasting integration." (CRP, UCLA)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/19/AR2010041905118.html
http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/news/press-releases/crp-press-releases-2012/civil-rights-project-reports-deepening-segregation-and-challenges-educators-and-political-leaders-to-develop-positive-policies
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/15640138-six-decades-after-brown-vs-board-of-ed-us-schools-still-segregated
http://www.projectcensored.org/2-us-schools-are-more-segregated-today-than-in-the-1950s-source/
Data: From the March on Washington to Now
2010 Census Racial Dot Map
Civil Rights and The American Education System Today
Many experts believe that “education inequality” is one of the biggest challenges to civil rights in America today. In this radio segment (time stamp 9:36 - 12:00; transcript) from the Diane Rehm Show, a panel discusses how poverty and place of residence have lead to segregation in schools (. Another factor that has brought about segregation in schools is the over-representation of minority groups, particularly blacks and Hispanics, in special education. The following articles look at two school districts, one in San Francisco and one in Connecticut, that both recognized a disproportionate amount of minority students in special education. Some educational professionals suggest the reasons more students who are black are identified as needing special education services for academics, behavior, or emotional stability may be based in bias and cultural differences. Identifying these biases and misunderstandings during the referral process would significantly increase the chances of success for these students who’s needs are not being met in school, but do not need special education services.
Bussing's Boston Massacre - 11/1/98
June 21, 1974—U.S. District Court Judge W. Arthur Garrity Jr. ordered massive forced busing to integrate the Boston Public Schools.
"Sometimes when I look out this window," White reportedly said to an aide during one hellish day at the office, "I see Belfast out there." Police had to escort and unload buses at several Boston high schools every morning and afternoon while snipers stood guard on the surrounding rooftops. Metal detectors were installed and troopers patrolled the cafeterias, hallways, and stairwells, and still racial brawls broke out daily. Garrity also ordered equal numbers of black and white police officers to guard the schools, provoking racial hostility even within the police force. "It’ll be lucky if the Boston police don’t kill each other before the day is out," said one state trooper at the time. For three years, as many as 300 state police officers a day patrolled South Boston High. One teacher compared the school to a prison: "We can’t leave school, we can’t come early or on the weekends to do preparatory work. We are like prisoners. Everyday when I get up, it’s like getting up to go to prison."
Busing has not only failed to integrate Boston schools, it has also failed to improve education opportunities for the city’s black children. When Boston introduced Stanford 9 testing to the public schools in 1996, 94 percent of seventh-graders at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School scored "poor" or "failing" in math, as did 73 percent of fifth-graders at Brighton’s Alexander Hamilton School. At Dorchester’s William E. Endicott School, 95 percent of the fifth-graders scored "poor" or "failing" in reading and 100 percent scored "poor" or "failing" in math. Yet all of these students were promoted to the next grade.
http://www.hoover.org/publications/policy-review/article/7768
"Boston Schools Adopt New Placement Plan for Students" - 3/14/13
“Tonight’s historic vote marks a new day for every child in the city of Boston,” the mayor said in a statement.
But numerous parents and activists complained during a hearing before the committee’s deliberations that the new system would leave some children — mostly black and Hispanic — in the lowest-performing schools.
“No way we can stand around the playground and say, ‘Yeah, we’re all getting a fair shake,’ “ one father testified.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/15/education/boston-schools-adopt-new-placement-plan-for-students.html?_r=0